A Beautiful Falling Star
by AzureAngel111
Summary: Hikaru Natsu, a 2nd year high school student who recently transferred to a new school designed to train kids to fight monsters. Hikaru is enthusiastic at first, but will he be able to last even a week at his new school.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Hi, my name is Hikaru, Hikaru Natsu. I wish I could tell you that I'm just another normal kid, going to a normal school. In a sense I am, everyday I go to school normal as can be. I live everyday as normal in my, semi-quite, little city. It's outside the city limits that things get a little weird. You see the world I live in made a great mistake. Well more like a series of mistakes. Outside the city limits is polluted beyond reason. The air in the outside world is so polluted that if you go outside for even a few minutes you will die, the pollution will burn and kill you. The only way the human race has lived is because we built special cities called chrome shelled regios. They are basically giant domes that move on mechanical legs. I'm not really sure how it works but the dome isn't solid, and it's easy to leave it. You wouldn't want to as whatever the dome is and does keeps the inside air clean and breathable. The point of the legs underneath the dome is so that we can move. There is this special substance called Selenium that can only be found in mines. The dome has to be able to move so we can reach different Selenium mines. A city, or chrome shelled regios would die without Selenium. It powers a city's electronic fairy. Electronic fairies are the heart of each city. They are sentient beings that run off of Selenium and control each city's legs and other functions that are too complex for humans to handle. Seems like a cycle right, we need to legs to get Selenium, Selenium to power the electronic fairy, and the electronic fairy to work the legs. Makes sense to get rid of the whole system and save time. There is one other factor though, and it makes the legs seem like more than a necessity. Filth monsters, creatures that where born because of the pollution. They can survive in the outside world unlike us and I'm pretty sure they feed off of the pollution. Thing is they get tired of pollution, and like to feed on other things. The main source of food for filth monsters is human beings. That's why a city has legs, to run away from these things. We don't always escape though, and sometimes the city can't move fast enough. Humans in general developed another way to defend themselves because of that. We discovered kei, an energy source that lives inside each human. Some people's kei is more powerful than others so they learn to use and manipulate it. They channel its through weapons called dite, a small rectangular device that can transform into pretty much any weapon. Using the dite and their kei together these humans, called military artists, kill filth monsters and protect their respective chrome shelled regios. Together they are the one thing stopping filth monsters from killing us all.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own universe of Chrome Shelled Regios or the city of Zuellni. I do own Kibou and all of its inhabitants.

"Hikaru" someone shouted.

"Huh, what's going on" I replied opening my eyes.

"You're late for school that's what happening" I vaguely recognized the voice as my mother. "Now get your butt down here and eat some breakfast!"

The world snapped into focus and suddenly I saw my room. I sat straight up and looked around. Clothes on the floor, an alarm clock I forget to set, and trash everywhere, yeah this was my room. I hurriedly got out of bed and got dressed. I ran downstairs as fast as I could almost falling down the stairs.

"Finally you got your lazy butt up" my mom complained. She was standing in the kitchen over by the stove cooking some eggs. She was wearing her dark brunette hair up in a bun and wearing a bright yellow shirt with a pair of bright blue jeans. The jeans darkened in contrast to her eyes though, bluer than the sky itself. She wouldn't let anyone tell her but she was extremely beautiful. My mom was far too prideful for that.

"Cool we're having eggs?" I asked expectantly.

She turned around and looked my dead in the eyes and said "No your brothers who got up on time are having eggs, you get partially burnt toast." Despite having a lot of pride mom was always able to admit her cooking was worse than atrocious, though it never stopped her from trying. I also have 2 younger brothers I forgot to mention, Trevor and Michael. They're the good sons who do everything perfect, but aren't half as cool as I am. "Hey Hikaru go look in the mirror your a mess" My mom commanded with a concerned smile on her face.

"Well it could be because I got up 2 minutes ago" I laughed. If you didn't read the prologue then you don't know my name is Hikaru Natsu. I walked over to the mirror and inspected my _not_ awe inspiring face. I had brunette hair like my mom, except it was considerably lighter. I got green eyes from my dad, but a sparkly happy smiling face from my mother. The sense of sarcasm you ask? I can thanks pops for that too. I hadn't really thought of what I was wearing when I threw stuff on 5 minutes ago. I was sporting a silver shirt with the drawing of two blue birds chasing each other around an apple tree. I don't remember ever buying anything this ridiculous, but hey I don't remember half of what I do in the morning. I was wearing jeans, big surprise, and they still had a size tag on them. I quickly ripped the tag off. I realized that my hair look kind of askew. It flew out in all different directions so I just kind of smoothed it out. My hair was ear length and pretty loose. It had some curl to it and every now and then I would get these annoying bangs. I always wanted cool spiky hair like anime heroes but hey, you're stuck with what you get. No spiky hair for me, I'm just mr. average high school student. I walked back into the kitchen to claim my toast after straightening up a bit.

"You look miles better" my mom proclaimed after I walked back in. "You should look especially good since this your last day".

"Ya I want to look great for all the people I'll never see again" I said almost sincerely. I didn't really have any close friends at this school so I wasn't worried. Its not that I'm antisocial or don't get along with people its just there was no one I really clicked with. Sure I had friends, but not the whole best buds for life thing.

"Oh honey still it's your last day in Kibou city it should be wonderful" she exclaimed. I wasn't just leaving the school I was leaving the city. It seems impossible since cities are so far apart and always moving. I'm not sure how it works, but there are these things called wandering busses. They travel between cities to well, transport people. I had no idea how they found cities though. I was taking one later today after school to Academy city Zuellni. There are two different types of cities, academy cities and general cities. Kibou was a general city, a place where most of normal humanity lives in its perfect little sheltered world. Zuellni was an academy city, where students go to learn and study. I was going there for a very special purpose, to study a subject you can't learn about in a general city. I was going there to become a military artist.

"Ha I guess well anyway where's my toast?" I asked.

"Over on the table there right out in the open" she said with a big smirk. "Your backpack is by the door you better hurry and take your toast to go, you don't want to be late".

Running to pick up my toast I passed my mom and hugged her. "Ok thanks mom bye, love ya" I whispered not wanting anyone to hear me proclaim how much I cared for my mom.

"Love you too honey, now hurry up and go" shouting the last words and practically pushing me in the direction of the toast. I picked it up and grabbed my backpack heading out the door. I had missed the bus, but I lived kind of close to the school. I glanced at my watch, 10 minutes left till the bell rang and the school was 2 and half miles away. I took a bite out of my toast and started running. This is how I began the last day of my life at the city of Kibou and the first day in my life as a military artist.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own universe of Chrome Shelled Regios or the city of Zuellni. I do own Kibou and all of its inhabitants.

School, some people love it and others hate it. I'm kind of in the middle. I don't get why people dread it so much. You get lectured by some boring teachers sure, but it's easy enough to tune them out. The schoolwork and homework don't bug me much either. In life you're going to have to do work, might as well get used to it. Even though I'm saying all this I'm still asleep in second period history drooling on my desk.

"Hikaru, wake up this instant" my less than pleasant teacher Mr. Davidson screeched. "I know that since you're becoming a big and important military artist and history might seem like the least important thing to you, but we can all learn from the mistakes of the past." He shouted and then whispered to himself "especially since they're the damn mistakes that got us here" as you've probably guessed Mr. Davidson is my history teacher. I like calling him Mr. D, it's a lot easier. He always comes into the school with the same outfit, just in different colors. It's this vertically striped suit thing with khakis and a tie. Today his color was brown with blue stripes. His tie had a Hawaiian theme going on with pineapples and flowers randomly scattered with a blue background. I don't really like Mr. D; he was a nice enough guy if you ignored his anger and strictness. I guess it was his ties. Ties have never sat well with me, they just irk me. Always made me think of cooperate snakes sitting around people's necks strangling the fun out of them. I bet Mr. D. would be twice as fun without the tie.

I yawned and then said "Sorry Mr. D I was up late last night packing" a complete lie. The only packing I did last night was put my toothbrush away. I had done most of my packing the day before, which wasn't much. I had one backpack full of random assorted stuff any traveling teen needs including toothbrush, cheap name brand shampoo, snacks, mp3 player, deck of cards, and ridiculously fluffy pillow. Then I had a suitcase of the important stuff, clothes. I actually thought I had over packed, I don't know how big my new room is going to be.

"Well just make sure to pay attention in class today, we are talking about a _very_ important subject today" " Mr. Davidson said in the most condescending tone I had heard him use since yesterday. "The third mayor of Kibou, who all of you should be familiar with" he said these last words sarcastically and with a drained attitude, as if he didn't really care about the subject and thought it was over discussed. Since I just woke up less than thirty seconds ago I had no idea what he was talking about and was pretty drained myself. "Mr. Natsu do you remember why the third mayor of Kibou was so important, or even what his name was?" Mr. Davidson asked.

"I think he name was, um, Carlton and he…" I stuttered, I had no idea who his guy was or even his name "hmmm he did something to organize Kibou city better?" I knew I was totally wrong.

"**WRONG**, first of all he is name Charleston now Carlton" Is how Mr. Davidson started his lecture. "And secondly I guess you are vaguely right he did do something to organize Kibou city. I'm not even going to bother asking you what though as I know you don't know. Kame can you tell me what mayor Charleston is famous for?" Is how he ended it.

"Of course I can Mr. Davidson; Mr. Charleston was famous for firing many of the corrupt people in the government of Kibou. He then gave the jobs to his close friends who he knew would do a much better job and work twice as hard. In the following years Kibou experienced an economic boon" Kame declared smugly. Kame is the quintessence of your average high school nerd. Big weird looking glasses, a bright green t-shirt that says I 3 school, cargo shorts, a bowl cut, strawberry blonde hair and a backpack shaped like a turtle. Ok so I was a little jealous of the turtle backpack, but everything else about the kid said beat me up I'm a nerd. Then again strawberry blonde hair doesn't say nerd, I just felt like putting that in their since I was describing him. Normally I would feel bad for a kid like Kame, constantly feeling picked on. I might actually have stood up for the kid and helped him out. But you don't endear many people to you when you say things like 'my dad owns your dad and one day I'll run this place and make sure you work a gas station'. I always thought that if I stopped the bullies from beating the tar out of him it would ruin his dramatic revenge. Besides he seemed to be brimming with confidence and pizzazz, I didn't want to hurt his ego by helping out.

"Absolutely right Kame" Mr. D. said "Ok now lets get into what Mr. Charleston did after he kicked out the corrupt government" at this point I went back to tuning him out. Mr. Davidson was right that you can learn from history, but I don't anything this mayor did in his cushy office could prepare me for the monsters outside this city. Then again he could have been an avenger at night, I kind of like that. Boring mayor by day and dark avenger of the citizens by night. I kept this fantasy going for quite some time. Eventually I fell asleep again. Mr. D. had a talent for putting me to sleep. I wonder if I should record some of his lectures sometime. So whenever I'm unable to fall asleep I just play the lecture and boom, out like a light. To bad I already asleep and I would never be able to record his lectures ever again.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own universe of Chrome Shelled Regios or the city of Zuellni. I do own Kibou and all of its inhabitants.

I wish I could say my last day at school was teary eyed. That everyone missed me and was sorry to see me go. That I had a bunch of goodbyes and parting gifts. I didn't, most of what I got was 'good luck at your new school' or the more elegant 'bye dude'. My favorite one was 'try not to get eaten by filth monster to fast'. The end of the day was pretty cool though. Last period all my closest friends threw a little party for me. It wasn't much just goodbye, good luck, and have some cake. It was mainly an excuse to have some cake and to get the period off. My teacher who is normally stingy was okay with it. Even the cruelest and strictest teachers have a heart. Plus we promised to give him some cake. After the party I decided to walk home alone.

"Hey wait up" my friend Tori called out.

"Hi Tori, did you follow me all the way from the school?" I replied. We where about a mile away from the school by now and I was surprised she followed me. She was wearing a red shirt with a big pink heart in the middle surrounded by 12 smaller hearts each a different color. She had on teal sweatpants. Tori's dark red hair reached down to her mid-back and was flowing out behind her as she ran. She was also a good head shorter than me. Not that I was particularly tall at 6 ft.

"Yeah dummy it's your last day I can't believe you thought I'd let you walk home alone" She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tori normally tried to walk me home. Its not that she had a crush on me or that there was anything between us just that we got along more than anyone. I guess you could say she was my best friend, probably the only person aside from my family that I would miss.

"Sorry I just left without thinking, I got a lot on my mind" I confessed. "Plus I'm pretty scared too". I was telling the truth. Not only was a going to a new school, but a new city. I would have to dorm and wouldn't know anyone. Nothing would be familiar.

"Is it because you're taking a wandering bus and have a high chance of getting eaten?" She inquired innocently.

"No actually it's was because I was going to a new school but thank you for reminding me" I shot back annoyed, another thing to pile unto the list of uncertainties and worries.

"Sorry about that, but hey you're a big bad military artist now" she said giggling.

"I'm glad the fact I might die amuses you" I replied rolling my eyes.

"Oh come one Hikaru I have faith that you won't die, and you can take on any big scary filth monster" Tori stated. She sincerely believed this too, it was a shame I didn't. "Well don't worry about what you can't change right? We're at your house" Tori said bluntly and matter of fact.

"Guess so" I actually didn't want to stop talking to Tori. No matter how annoying or morbid she can be it was a comfort talking to her. I always felt like I could be open with her and she wouldn't be judgmental.

"Well if we're guessing then I guess you should hurry onto your new life" Tori said sadly. We both stood there in silence for a couple seconds. 'Oh ya!" Tori shouted instantly brightening up. "I can believe I almost forgot!"

"You almost forgot what, to shatter my eardrums by shrieking" I scolded half in amusement half in annoyance.

"No your goodbye presents silly" She pouted.

"My goodbye presents? Tori you didn't have to get me anything" I stated.

"Oh shut up you know you're happy I got you something" Tori said smiling. It was true; I was pretty much glowing with joy that she remembered me. Getting me a present was above awesome. "So for your first present" she mumbled while searching through her book bag. "Here it is". She took out a small lavender box. It looked kind of like something you could put engagement ring in. You could tell the box was worn, old, and precious. She smiled and suddenly looked very vulnerable. She opened the box and inside was her great grandmother's crystal butterfly necklace.

"Tori I can't accept this" I hastily replied. I was completely shocked, this necklace meant so much to her. Her great grandmother gave it to her on her death bed, or at least that's what I had heard.

"Please Hikaru" she pleaded. She looked at me with such hope in her eyes. I had absolutely no idea what to do, so I kind of winged it.

"Um okay, thanks Tori." She instantly brightened up and seemed to fill with energy and confidence. She seemed absolutely radiant. She took the necklace out of the box and put it around my neck.

"Never forget me okay" Tori said dead serous yet playful. I looked her in the eyes; you know I never realized how bright her brown eyes were. They seemed to just drag you in, make you feel secure, and like you never want to look away. "Whenever you feel lost or alone just hold this necklace. Focus on an image of the person you care about most and you will be able to connect with them. My grandma said something sappy like that. Even though it sounds totally fake I thought it was a nice." Her voice had a melodic tone I had never thought about either. It was smooth and soft, and it sounded like she was singing when she talked. It brought a sense of warmth and comfort, like a mother talking to her child, soft yet strong. "Always wear this necklace and remember me okay" Tori said.

"Ok" was about all I could manage.

"You know Hikaru I had always dreaded this day, I knew you were special for some reason. Something told me you would have to go away one day" Tori confessed. "I did say that was my first gift right?"

"Tori this is more than enough, more than you know". She had given me knowledge that I was leaving something behind. Something more important than anything I knew.

"No, it would be wrong not to give you this next gift, plus I want to give it" Tori said and blushed. She leaned in close to me, I could hear her breathing. We looked straight into each others eyes, and she kissed me. I lost everything in the moment, all sense of time and all sense of reality. I forgot where and who I was. I only knew what mattered to me, I only knew her. I don't know how long it lasted, but I wish it could have lasted forever. She broke off first. "There's your second gift, like it?" she asked innocently.

"More than you know" I said. Later I would regret that I didn't say something cooler or suave or overall in general better. Maybe though, my open honesty and inability to be cool or superficial was what Tori liked about me.

"Good because it was mine and your first" She admitted. "I'm really going to miss you Hikaru".

"I'm going to miss you to Tori, I promise to write everyday" I proclaimed.

"Not everyday of course, you'll be busy, but how about, hmm weekly or so" Tori said jokingly. "Truthfully whenever you can."

"I promise" I replied

"Okay. Well…this is goodbye" Tori choked out.

"It's not goodbye Tori, it's more of see you later. I will come back" I promised

"I guess it is" she squeaked her cheer instantly coming back. "Promise you'll come back, pinky promise".

"We haven't done that since like 6th grade, but okay" I said secretly smiling. It was lame I know, but it was kind of cool at same time. We grabbed each others pinky's and promised to see each other again one day.

"Bye Hikaru, I mean see you later" She shouted, giggling and ran off

"See you later Tori" I yelled back and watched her run off. I watched her until she disappeared into the tangle of building and other people on the street. Tori had given me more than two gifts. She gave me this feeling burning in my heart now. She also gave me something to look forward to in Zuellni city. I now had a motivation, more than just having talent to defeat filth monsters, I had a reason.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own universe of Chrome Shelled Regios or the city of Zuellni. I do own Kibou and all of its inhabitants.

"Mom I'm home" I shouted as I came in the front door.

"Good we can finally begin dinner sending you off" My mom yelled back. "We're all in the kitchen. This took me aback as all usually meant dad was home too. He was rarely home as he was an important businessman. I ran into the Kitchen.

"Hey son wassup" My dad said cheerfully. Normally you expect a teary eyed reunion when someone you normally never see comes home. My dad's purpose in life was to ruin these types of moments and make them casual. Truthfully with my recent encounter with Tori I was okay with no drama and normal life stuff. I had enough excitement and heart pounding for one day.

"Not much just got back from school and I'm tired" I said laughing.

My mom looked at me funny "Tired already, but there is still a lot to do".

"Ya you can sleep once you get on the wandering bus" My dad said. He was wearing a boring business suit. It was blue and his tie was bright pink. He had the absolute worst fashion sense. His hair resembled mine almost perfectly except it had a greasy look as it was almost always slicked back. His eyes were also green and always radiated a sense of humor and confidence.

"Hey what's around your neck big bro" My little brother Trevor pointed out. He was seven year old and extremely curious and observant. He was wearing his favorite color today, orange. I have no idea how he did it, but he also managed to find orange jeans. He looked like a piece of fruit. I couldn't believe mom let him go to school like that. Thankfully his hair was brunette and ruined his orange theme. His eyes were blue like moms but not nearly as light.

"Isn't that Tori's butterfly necklace?" Mom asked her mood suddenly and suspiciously giddy. Curse Trevor for pointing it out to mom, may be kept up at night by the sound of a thousand barking Chihuahua. If you don't know what a Chihuahua then it would probably look and sound more familiar if I spelled it Chiwawa. Still don't know what it is? A Chihuahua is a small, toy sized, bark machine. I'm dead serous these things are the sizes of infants and never shut up.

"Well um ya it is" I mumbled.

"Don't bug him about it honey it's his last day we don't need his memory of it to be filled with embarrassment" dad said with a huge grin on his face. Of course dad would come to the rescue. I knew he was more curious than mom to know the story behind the necklace, but he was also smart enough to guess the story exactly. He seemed to know me better than mom even though he wasn't around much.

"Mama I wanna piece of cake" Michael demanded. Michael was 3 years old. The age where everything is his and all he can say is mine. He had one green eye and one blue eye. His hair was brunette like the rest of us and found a shade between dark and light. He had a pair of grey sweatpants on and a blue shirt that said 'mommies little angel'. He was the least angelic of my siblings.

"Ya mom I can I have some cake" Trevor asked.

"Cake doesn't sound half bad" I said as fast as I could. I was eager to continue the plea my brothers had started. It would get my mom off the subject Tori's butterfly necklace.

My mom looked at all of us defeated "Sure since your dad won't let me torture Hikaru lets cut the cake" she said. Me and my dad looked at each other and grinned.

"Yay cake!" Michael screamed.

"Well I guess this is it" My dad stated. We were alone at the bus stop on the outer edge of the city. Mom had stayed home with my brothers. I had my backpack on and a suitcase in my hand and the wandering bus was going to leave soon.

"I can't believe I'm going to be leaving, moving to a new city" I admitted.

My dad just looked at me, his face was both concerned and proud. "You'll do just fine; the only dangerous part is this wandering bus nonsense" He looked at the bus skeptically. "Did your mom give you the money?" he asked.

"Yes, I don't see why I need it though I'm going to be dorming" I replied

"That's exactly why we're giving you the money" he laughed. "I could barely deal with my dorm mates in college and you're going to be stuck with high school kids. I feel sorry for ya" my dad looked at my his familar face filled with humor

"I wonder who I will be stuck with" I said darkly

"Don't be a killjoy son; also don't think of it as being stuck with someone. Fate works in funny ways and even if your dorm mates are intolerable as hell I'm sure it'll work out somehow" My dad said excitedly. He really needed to work on his speeches; he was becoming lamer than normal. "Also I want you to remember to write" he suddenly became serous.

"Of course I will pops" I said without a single idea of why he was suddenly serous.

"The world out there is dangerous, and truthfully it's dieing" He declared. "Only one group of people stands in between the human race and extinction, they are military artists. A group which your are now part of"

"Dad" I said solemnly.

"Son I want you to know something. There are things worth dieing for in this world. I also want you to know that even though I wasn't always there for you I'm proud of all you've done. Lastly I don't want this to become a stupid sappy moment" my dad said the humor returning to his smile and eyes.

"Alright dad no mushy stuff I get it" I said. I was glad my dad ruined sad moments now, as I was almost about to cry.

"You better get on that bus before it leaves without you. I really don't want to hear your mother complain if you miss the bus" He proclaimed.

"Alright bye dad" I said and got on the bus, giving the driver the fare money.

Right before the doors closed I could hear my dad say "Goodbye son, make me proud, and make this world a safer and better place"

"I promise I will" I whispered to myself and found a seat. It wasn't that hard, the bus was practically empty. It was me, the bus driver, and five other people. The city of Zibou was currently stationary. A ramp opened up from the city to the world outside and the bus drove on. I looked back at my dad and the city for a couple seconds. Then we left Zibou and clouds of dust instantly obscured my view. I sighed and turned around. I looked out my window. It was the first time I had seen the outside world. It was pretty much a barren lifeless void. The bus driver made an announcement on the bus's loudspeaker saying the next stop was the Academy City of Zuellni. I thought about Zuellni and wondered what it would be like, who I would meet, and what being a military artist would be like. I knew I could handle any challenge thrown at me though. I looked down at my necklace and the crystal butterfly. I held it in both hands and looked out the window. It was a dead barren landscape but the sky was beautiful. I had never called anything in my life beautiful but compared to this dead world everything was. In the sky I saw a movement, a small shooting star. It looked completely insignificant compared to everything else in the universe, so small yet it was moving past everything else. I wondered if it had left its home too, a traveler from some far part of the universe trekking across this vast sky just like me. I was bound to the ground though, while the star could go anywhere. When I thought about it though I could go anywhere too. I looked back up at the star as it trailed out of sight. It once again was leaving to continue on its journey. I looked straight ahead. All I saw out of the front of the bus was wasteland. I had no idea where I was going and the dangers ahead. I just put my faith in my destination and that I needed to get there. I fell asleep with all these thoughts in my head. The life I left behind, what I'll face in Zuellni, and the shooting star. I closed my eyes with my hands still wrapped around the butterfly, and existence seemed to blank out as I feel asleep. I could only see what truly mattered to me and the crystal butterfly.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own universe of Chrome Shelled Regios or the city of Zuellni. I do own the bus and all of its inhabitants.

A barren desert is a really cool thing to look at. Watching the sand roll by, oh and the dust clouds are pretty cool too. Yes the desert is extremely interesting with the variety of plants and life moving around and the fact it's not the same old scenery over and over again. If you can't tell I'm being sarcastic, I'm being sarcastic. Deserts are pretty cool for the first five minutes, not for seven hours. I had gone to sleep a little while after I left Zibou and woke up seven hours ago. The outside world got boring fast, plus I had forgotten to charge my mp3 player before I left. In this tremendously boring and horrible situation I decided to use my intelligence and quick wits to come up with a game. I would count every rock, animal, plant, tumbleweed or whatever I saw. This game lasted about an hour before my total score become zero. As you can probably tell it's boring and depressing to look out a window and not even seeing a stinking rock for an hour. The other people on the bus weren't too entertaining either. There was a fat guy wearing a yellow shirt with a smiley in the middle. He had been eating cheetos for the last seven hours, which really scared me. Especially since it had been out of the same bag, I decided not ask or look at him again. This was easy because he was in the back of the bus. Everyone else was pretty boring except for these other two guys. One of them was sitting in the row right across from me, I had no idea how I missed him when I first sat down. Then again he was wearing all black and it was nighttime, so he probably blended in. His hair helped with his black ensemble, it was darker than coals. His shoes were even black. I couldn't really tell since he was sitting down, but he seemed pretty tall. He also had some kind of black coat on. It was like a mix of a trench coat and raincoat. The coat was big black and long, yet sleek and kind of cool. He seemed to sense me staring and looked straight at me. His eyes were deep indigo and he looked at me coldly with hate as if I killed his puppy or something. I swear if I touched his eyes I would get hypothermia, then again that's totally gross and a complete violation of privacy.

"Hi" I say and wave. The guy just keeps looking at me and then turns away. Completely creeped out by this point at look around the bus and find the only other remotely interesting person. I spot him several seats behind me and in the opposite row. He's wearing a beige traveler's cloak. You know those semi poncho things that open up in the side instead of the front and serve almost no purpose. His hat was also beige and the kind of thing you expect a professor on a safari to wear. Like a top hat but considerably smaller, normal sized. From what I could see of his shirt it ruined his architect and beige look with a bright green color. His pants were a dark almost muddy red color. The color you get when the first rays of the morning sun strike the desert sand. You can't tell how bored I am by that last metaphor, I never use metaphors. The man was a bit on the chubby side, ok truthfully he was fat. Not obese though, like Santa fat. The fat you get when you're big, but not scary big, like a happy, jolly fat guy big. His also had a cool mustache. It was big white fluffy and ridiculously, no I'm dead serous about its fluffousity and ridiculousness. It looked like a miniature Persian cat had sat on his upper lip. He was also pretty old; I'm guessing 50, 60ish? I'm not really good with ages. His age, mustache, and large body mass gave him the feel of a grandfather or something. Plus he looked overall cheerful and happy kind of guy, harmless. The fact he was sleeping and his snoring was the only audible thing other than the bus rolling over rocks made him seem more helpless. Well sleeping people are pretty boring now that I think of it, man I wish I had charged my mp3 player.

A few hours later I had managed to get to sleep. Of course once I fall asleep something exciting happens. Some kind of weird red siren on the top of the bus went off and was flashing red.

The bus driver spoke over the loud speaker "excuse me, but we seem to be having a little trouble. Are there any experienced military artists on board" I was going to answer then realized I wasn't experienced. I was hardly even a newbie. The kid in all black across from me stood up. I was right about him being tall. This kid would make a good basketball player and looked about 6"7. He also seemed pretty thin.

"I am-"he started. His voice seemed intelligent and mature, a lot different from his personality and eyes. It was also very sure of itself, the voice of a leader.

"Step down I'll take care of this sonny" the old man interrupted. I hadn't even noticed him wake or get up. His voice seemed calm and warm. He even sounded like a nice old grandpa, how in the world could he be a military artist. The kid in black just looked at him.

"The driver said military artist not senior citizen" The kid in black responded. With this he took what looked like a black rectangular cube with a red dot in the middle, roughly the size of a sword hilt out of his pocket. It took me a second to realize it was a dite! A dite is the sign of a military artist. They can change into pretty much any weapon, but each one is preset for a certain weapon. I heard that certain skilled mechanics can do something to a dite to make it change into multiple weapons though. The old man laughed at what the kid said. It was a deep booming laugh, as if he was just told the funniest joke in the world

"Thank you for telling me what he said, but I'm not so old that my hearings gone. I know he asked for an **experienced** military artist" with this the old man took out a silver dite. I was totally shocked; I guess nice old grandpa wasn't as peaceful or senile as he looked. The kid in black just looked the old man over and shrugged.

"Whatever I'll just step in if you die" he said this as indifferently as possible. The old man just laughed again.

"I'm glad to know this if I fail you'll save these nice people" The old man said seeming genuinely relieved. He walked up to the bus driver. "So what seems to be the problem" I guess I'm pretty dense. Since I had nearly fallen asleep it never clicked in my head that flashing red lights, blaring siren, plus a need for a military artist meant danger. I was suddenly worried for the old dude, he seemed cool

"We have three filth monsters on our tail, can you take care of them" the driver said obviously panicked.

"F-f-filth monsters!" I stuttered out. Even a larva of one of those things could easily kill a bus full of people. I didn't realize the pun in thinking this.

"Yes Filth monsters, but don't worry I need this bus to get a ride to Zuellni City. Even if the old man dies I'll take care of them" the kid in black states.

"Only three?" The old man asks. The bus driver nods looking confused. "Oh well I guess any more might be some trouble" he said with a smile.

"Well there behind so could you take care of them" Bus driver said slightly calmer. I looked out the back of the bus, and almost threw up. Filth monsters were disgusting and horrible. I don't even know how to begin describing them. They were dark purple almost black and have an armadillo shell like carapace. They're insect-like and look like a slug with a shell. There not slimy though there rough and some had spikes. Its legs were somewhat like a beetle or scorpion. The carapace also had bright yellow spots all over it and the filth monsters eyes were bright green. It looked like its mouth had that baleen stuff like those whales that filter feed. When I looked again I realized that it had teeth they were just so thin sharp and curved it look like baleen. Each one of the filth monsters was as big as the bus if not bigger, and was also moving faster than us. They would catch us in no time. I had no idea how an old man, or anyone for that matter could stop these things, I just sat there in shock horrified. The old man walked to the back of the bus and opened the emergency door.

"Restoration" I heard him mutter. A word all military artists say to activate their dite. The silver dite in his hand turned white and because to change. After it stopped glowing I saw it was in the form of a gatling gun, which is pretty much a human sized machine gun.

"What the hell!" the kid in black yelled. The old man laughed again.

"Seems like this senior citizen has a few tricks up his sleeve doesn't it" He said not scornful at all, but full of humor and cheer. He opened fire on one of the fifth monsters and it was taken down in seconds. The weird thing was it didn't look like bullets came out of his gun with these weird yellow energy bursts.

"That shouldn't be physically possible" The kid with the black ensemble said.

"Why not" I asked.

"When a military artist shoots a gun they don't use bullet's, but fire their own kei, or energy at their opponent. A normal military artist who uses ranged weapons would use a rifle or pistol. When they shoot a rifle because it requires energy it's like they are swinging a big sword and therefore have recoil and takes awhile for them to shoot again. Shooting a pistol is like swinging a dagger so it's a lot faster. Semi automatic or automatic weapons are unable to be used even by skilled people because of this. I can't imagine someone shooting a pistol that fast, none the less a giant gatling gun. It's completely inhuman." The kid told me. I looked at the old man again as he gunned down the last two filth monsters. His dite returned back to its original rectangular shape. I was totally amazed; this old man was completely amazing. He closed the emergency door behind him and turned to face us. He looked at everyone on the bus with a big smile on his face.

"How's that for a senior citizen" he said with a salute to the kid in black.


End file.
